TO GO WITH AFP PHOTO “Entertainment-Sweden-museum-music-ABBA” Swedish pop group Abba performs their song Waterloo during the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton 09 February 1974. Fans of legendary Swedish disco group ABBA can dance down memory lane when “ABBA the Museum” opens in Stockholm in 2009, featuring the quartet’s costumes, instruments and rare memorabilia. AFP PHOTO Olle Lindeborg/Scanpix Sweden (Photo credit should read Olle Lindeborg/AFP/Getty Images)

NEW YORK - AUGUST 20: Justin Hayward performs at Radio City Music Hall on August 20, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Cory Schwartz/Getty Images)

ABBA, one of the most popular and successful pop groups in the world the past 40 years, performed onstage together for the first time in 30 years, reports Sweden’s Expressen.

Sunday, the Swedish vocal quartet of Agnetha Faltskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid (Frida) Lyngstad, marked the 50th anniversary of the first time Ulvaeus and Andersson met by gathering at a private bash in their honor at Berns Salonger, a 1,200-capacity restaurant and entertainment venue in central Stockholm, Sweden.

Initially, the gals (Faltskog and Lyngstad) sang their 1980 hit, “Me and I,” together as a tribute to the two guys. However, midway through the song, the fellows surprised and delighted everyone by getting up and joining them.

It was the first time all four members of the group performed together since 1986 (they split up in 1982). So impromptu was the performance that so far, no videos of the moment have surfaced online.

The four members have reunited twice since 1986, both times for non-performing promotional occasions. Of this reunion, Lyngstad told Expressen, “It was absolutely amazing. A lot of emotions.”

Some sources put ABBA’s world record sales as high as 500 million. The group that is known for light, happy pop fluff was controversially inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010, while six years later, The Moody Blues, Jethro Tull, Paul Revere and The Raiders, Yes, Procol Harum, Roxy Music, Tom Jones and so many others are still not only not in the Hall, but they have never even been nominated.

Dylan, Simon, McCartney, Starr on Ali

Tributes flooded in from around the world upon the announcement on Friday that Muhammad Ali had died in Phoenix at age 74, and that included the world of music.

Bob Dylan, a boxer in his youth and a huge fight fan who met Ali numerous times, wrote in a post on his website: “If the measure of greatness is to gladden the heart of every human being on the face of the earth, then he truly was the greatest.” In every way he was the bravest, the kindest and the most excellent of men.”

Paul Simon was performing his Simon and Garfunkel classic from 1969, “The Boxer,” at the 8,500-seat Greek Theatre in Berkeley. Midway through the song he stopped cold and addressed the audience, saying, “I’m sorry to tell you this, but Muhammad Ali has passed away.” Rolling Stone reports that “the stunned crowd audibly let out their grief” before Simon picked up the beat and finished the song.

Paul McCartney famously first met the fighter in Miami in February 1964 when The Beatles were appearing on “The Ed Sullivan Show” there and Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, was training for his heavyweight championship bout with Sonny Liston. The Beatle wrote: “Besides being the greatest boxer, he was a beautiful, gentle man with a great sense of humor who would often pull a pack of cards out f his pocket, no matter how posh the occasion, and do a card trick for you.”

Sir Paul’s one-time drummer, fellow Beatle Ringo Starr, was performing with his All-Starr Band in Syracuse, N. Y. at the 12,000-capacity Lakeview Amphitheatre, the opening night of his summer tour. He told Rolling Stone: “We didn’t know while we were on. When we came off, they broke into whatever was on TV. That’s when I knew.”

Starr, who crossed paths over the years with Ali, said: “He was powerful. He was just physically and spiritually powerful. He was just great. He’s a huge loss.”

McCartney: Racist as a youth

Paul McCartney tells Britain’s Daily Mail that when he was young guy in Liverpool he was “unintentionally racist.”

“When I was a kid, you were racist without knowing it. It was just the normal thing to use certain words you wouldn’t use now.” He says that in Liverpool in the ‘50s, it didn’t occur to him that certain words were actually offensive. Later, as he grew up, matured and moved to London and became worldlier, he realized the error of his ways and stopped using those words and phrases.

AC/DC’s Johnson shows health improvement

Late last year, Brian Johnson, singer since 1980 for hard rocking Aussie supergroup AC/DC, had to leave the band in the middle of its latest North American tour after his doctors told him that he risked permanent deafness if her continued even one more show.

The band’s undisputed leader, lead guitarist Angus Young (the guy known for donning his Aussie schoolboy’s uniform, short pants and all, for the past four decades) responded, it’s been rumored, to have summarily fired Johnson. To fulfill the band’s concert commitments in North American and Europe, Young contracted the services of Guns N’ Roses screamer Axl Rose.

Reviews of the European shows with Rose were surprisingly good, even though countless fans demanded their money back before the gigs.

Johnson tried a new treatment by inventor Stephen Ambrose of Asius Technologies. In a statement authorized by the 68-year-old Johnson that was posted on Facebook by Ambrose, Johnson says, “It WORKS. It just totally works and you can’t argue with that. I was really moved and amazed to be able to hear music again like I haven’t heard for several years now. I can’t wait for it to be miniaturized so I can use it in every situation from normal communication, going out to noisy restaurants, to performing live music on stage.”

Will Johnson return to AC/DC after the completion of the Rose-fronted North American dates? Stay tuned.

Solo tour by Moody Blues’ Hayward

Guitarist Justin Hayward, who for the past 50 years was the main songwriter (John Lodge is a major contributor) for Britain’s Moody Blues, began a tour that stops at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano on Friday, The Rose (the new concert club in Pasadena) on Saturday, and the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills on Sunday. The West Coast tour takes up most of the remainder of the month.

Hayward, who sings and accompanies himself on guitar, is supported on the tour by guitarist Mike Dawes and keyboardist Julie Ragins.

The 69-year-old is telling the story of his musical life on this intimate jaunt. It begins with the first Moodies’ classic he wrote, 1967’s “Nights in White Satin” and concludes with a new song, “The Wind of Heaven.”

In late 1966, Hayward replaced then-group leader Denny Laine, who sang their sole British Invasion hit, “Go Now,” in 1964. He was recommended to the group by Animals frontman Eric Burdon, and he immediately became instrumental in altering the band’s sound, from a gritty R&B band to one of pop music’s great psychedelic classical rock groups.

He wrote such all-time greats, many that were staples in the trippy early days of “Underground” FM radio, as “Tuesday Afternoon,” “The Actor,” “Gypsy,” “Lovely To See You,” “Never Comes the Day,” “Question,” You and Me,” and many others. He also wrote the group’s ‘80s comeback smashes, “Your Wildest Dreams” and “I Know You’re Out There Somewhere.”

Monkees score biggest seller in 48 years

“Good Times!,” the first new Monkees studio album in two decades, is their biggest-selling album in 48 years. It was at No. 14 on Billboard’s Top 200 album chart in its second week with sales of just under 25,000 copies.

Last week, it sold 1,500 copies more than Ariana Grande’s new album sold in her second week, and 12,000 more than Eric Clapton’s new one, “I Still Do,” sold in its second week.

Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork are touring together as The Monkees 50th Anniversary Tour. Mike Nesmith joined Dolenz and Tork on Wednesday at New York City’s Town Hall – not in person, but on Skype, singing “Papa Gene’s Blues,” his 1966 song from the band’s self-titled debut LP.

Yusuf/Cat Stevens releases new song

Yusuf, aka Cat Stevens, has contributed a new song, “He Ws Alone,” to help launch a campaign to help child refugees in Europe. His charity, Small Kindness, is operating with a pair of existing charities, Save the Children and Penny Appeal to raise funds “to help people who have made the perilous journey across the Mediterranean to Europe in search of safety.”

Of the more than one million refugees that have arrived, mostly from the Middle East, at least 95,000 were children who travelled alone without their parents.

Steven will play a benefit at London’s Central Hall on June 14 to kick off the effort. Among those endorsing the campaign are The Who’s Pete Townsend , Ricky Gervais, model Naomi Campbell, Emma Thompson, Live Aid and G8 organizer Bob Geldof The Boomtown Rats, Spandau Ballet frontman Gary Kemp, Blondie, New Order, Sheryl Crow, Queen, and Miley Cyrus’ Happy Hippie Foundation.

Tom Jones opens up about late wife

Tom Jones says it was not until the April death of his wife of 59 years, Lady Melinda Rose Woodward, that he realized that she was “the most important thing in my life,” according to Britain’s Metro.

The 75-yer-old Welshman made his first public appearance since her death at the popular Hay Festival, a popular annual literary fest in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, approximately 40 north of the Welsh capitol, Cardiff. He was there to promote his new memoir, “Over the Top and Back,” when, during a Q&A with an throng of fans he began his appearance by discussing his wife, breaking down in the process.

The singer best known for such British Invasion smashes as “It’s Not Unusual,” “What’s New, Pussycat?,” “(The Theme from) Thunderball,” and “Delilah,” broke down in tears as he said that being with her when she died was “the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

He continued: “We were married for 59 years, we knew each other since we were kids.”

He discussed the end: “It was fast; she had cancer. I was in the Philippines (on tour), that was when I got the call, that it was terminal. I had to stop. So I flew back to Los Angeles and she had a week left, in the hospital.”

One fan who was there Tweeted that there was “not a dry eye in the house.”

Jones’s wife rarely appeared in public with her husband and was apparently happy to remain behind the scenes at their various homes. While his wife was home, the singer undertook a bunch of affairs, including one said to be with Mary Wilson of The Supremes.

However, he hinted there was an understanding between him and his wife and “there was never a moment when he though his marriage would end.” He said: “No, never. Never crossed my mind; never crossed her mind.”

Jones told a BBC Radio 2 show that he was turning to music to help him cope following Linda’s death.

“I’m back in it and getting back in form,” he said. “Singing is what I do. I’m a singer and I love to sing. I have to be strong. (Linda) wanted me to go on and keep singing, she said not to stop. It was a solid marriage that nothing could shake. … We both knew this was forever; we both knew (it was) for as long as we’d be alive.”

They met when they were 12 and married when they were 16.

The singer, a major sex symbol in the ‘60s and ‘70s and remains so with many of his female fans, returned to concerts on Wednesday in England. After his rout of Britain and Europe, he’ll head here, where he’ll play one special show, on Oct. 13 at the Hollywood Bowl with another legendary British Invasion belter, Van Morrison.

New R&B Hall of Fame inductees

The Hall, formed in Detroit in 2010, will welcome, among others, Fats Domino, Jimi Hendrix, Smokey Robinson, Prince, Dionne Warwick, Sam & Dave, Eddie Floyd, Bettye Levette, ‘60s Detroit girl group The Velvelettes, The Supremes, and Bootsy Collins, bassist for James Brown and then Parliament-Funkadelic and Bootsy’s Rubber Band. The ceremony takes place in August.

Johnny Rotten likes Bingo, Bee Gees

John Lydon turned 60 in January. The once-notorious frontman of The Sex Pistols in the ’70 was called Johnny Rotten back then.

In a recent interview with Britain’s Mirror he discussed his life again and what he said may surprise some.

Lydon has been married for three decades to Nora Foster, a German publishing heiress. While they have a residence in London, they’ve lived primarily for the past 30-plus year near the ocean in Santa Monica, raising the twin children of Foster’s late daughter, Ari Up, of British ‘70s girl group punkers The Slits.

“I do like a round of Bingo.,” he says enthusiastically. “I like it when they shout, ‘Bingo!’ I’d rather have a round of Bingo than anything else.”

He’s made several concessions to life as a senior citizen, including having specialized dental reconstruction.

“My teeth are all titanium, now. If you want to punch me in the face, you’re going to lose your knuckles. I’m Johnny Fully Armor.”

What may be most surprising is that his musical tastes have mellowed: “I love The Bee Gees and bullocks (to blazes) to those that don’t.”

Apparently, his wife knows how to deal with him when he occasionally gets a little crazy. Once, he said, “I fell through the front door drunk and passed out. I did not close the door … She woke me … and hit me with a drying pan.”

Dead & Co’s $100,000 donation

The Dead & Company, the band that features there of the four surviving members of The Grateful Dead – drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann and singer-guitarist Bob Weir, along with John Meyer – said in a statement it is against North Carolina’s now-infamous anti-gay HB2 bill but it will go ahead with its scheduled concert on June 10 in Charlotte at the 19,500-seat PNC Music Pavilion.

The band will protest the bill by donating $100,000 to two organizations that are fighting it: The Human Rights Campaign and Equality North Carolina.

Also, the band members, who have been activists for more than 50 years, will set up an area at the for booths for various groups who are fighting for equality, promoting voter registration and protecting the environment.

In the statement, the band said: “When North Carolina lawmakers passed HB2 and Governor Pat McCrory signed it into law, we categorically objected to it. We had hoped that by now this abhorrent law would have been repealed. Sadly, it has not …

“After much thought, consideration and conversation, we feel the most effective way to move forward is to perform as scheduled in Charlotte, North Carolina on June 10 and to donate $100,000.00 to organizations engaged in this battle for justice.”

Obit: Fairport Convention’s Swarbrick

Dave Swarbrick, who played violin in pioneering English Renaissance folk rock band Fairport Convention from 1969-1979, died after a lengthy illness at 75 at an undisclosed hospital in New Malden, Surrey, a few miles southwest of downtown London, reports Reuters.

The news agency also reports that Swarb, as he was known, underwent a double lung transplant in 2004 after being diagnosed with emphysema in the ‘90s.

He was a major presence on the British folk scene in the ‘60s. Fairport Convention became leaders of Britain’s folk revival driven by Swarbrick, who combined his fiddle with Sandy Denny’s powerful vocals and Richard Thompson’s innovative guitar.

The band cut the classic 1969 LP, “Liege & Lief,” in 1969 that mixed original compositions with electric arrangements of traditional British folk music. The album was hugely influential in the U.K., hitting No. 17 on its album chart, where it remained for nearly four months.

Since leaving Fairport in 1979, Swarbrick delighted in playing small venues throughout Britain. He also reunited with the band numerous times, often at the band’s own annual Cropredy Festival.

Steve Smith writes a new Classic Pop, Rock and Country Music News column every week. It can be read in its entirety on www.presstelegram.com. Like, recommend or share the column on Facebook. Contact him by email at Classicpopmusicnews@gmail.com.

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